How to DIY fix a gelcoat/fiberglass boo-boo?

T

timflan

New member
It's not very big, but all the gelcoat is gone and I'm looking at glass fiber.
Photos here.

What do I do?

Thanks!

PS how did it happen: Boat dock wasn't properly maintained, big wave action shoved the hull against a big bolt.
 
I managed to put a big gouge in the side of C-Traveler at a dock that had a piece of metal protruding out just below the dock. While my "booboo" was a narrow gouge, I repaired it by grinding out some more material to make it more smooth and to clean up the area to accept the gelcoat from a repair kit. I also bought a paint match kit. It took several attempts to match the blue, and while it's not a perfect match, it does blend in pretty well. I have also found that on my C-Dory, an antique white spray paint matches the white gelcoat pretty well. Heirloom White to be exact. Since your damage appears to be in the white area only, I think I would grind out the edges to smooth them out, and then just get some fiberglass gel to do the repair. Put the new fiberglass in, sand it out well with continuing less course sand paper, down to maybe 1000 or 2000 grit, and then just spray paint with the Heirloom White, fanning it out slightly over the good gelcoat. (Mask the blue trim.) Colby
 
colbysmith":3ece5f6t said:
I managed to put a big gouge in the side of C-Traveler at a dock that had a piece of metal protruding out just below the dock. While my "booboo" was a narrow gouge, I repaired it by grinding out some more material to make it more smooth and to clean up the area to accept the gelcoat from a repair kit. I also bought a paint match kit. It took several attempts to match the blue, and while it's not a perfect match, it does blend in pretty well. I have also found that on my C-Dory, an antique white spray paint matches the white gelcoat pretty well. Heirloom White to be exact. Since your damage appears to be in the white area only, I think I would grind out the edges to smooth them out, and then just get some fiberglass gel to do the repair. Put the new fiberglass in, sand it out well with continuing less course sand paper, down to maybe 1000 or 2000 grit, and then just spray paint with the Heirloom White, fanning it out slightly over the good gelcoat. (Mask the blue trim.) Colby
Click to expand...

You could use something like this: https://www.boatid.com/interlux/interlux-marinefilm-scratch-repair-kit-3829387223.html

It comes in different colors. There are similar products from other vendors.

You'd still have to fill in the gouge, but you might not have to worry about painting part.
 
You are going to want to grind off the edges, to make the entire repair smooth and be able to feather in the gel coat. As you do this, there will some "dishing" of the area where the fibers are exposed. This will probably need to be filled with a small amount of mat and finishing resin. After the resin has set, then wash, and begin to sand with a block to get it smooth and flush.

After this is sanded smooth, then you can gel coat the area. You can purchase white gel coat. Buy a "tint" kit, It will take a minuscule amount of yellow, and brown pigment. I end up putting a drop of each in a "dollop" of white gel coat--and then diluting this out about 10:1 as I add more white gel coat to the side and mix it in to get the desired color.

On your boat, you have a "takin" line--and I would clean this with one of the Toilet bowl cleaners, Oxalic Acid, or some other mild acid. (Bleach all of the gelcoat, but don't get any of the cleaner/acid into the "wound".

I usually spray PVA on top of the gel coat--but mylar sheets also work very well to occlude air from the gel coat as it hardens.

There are several good U Tube videos on Gel coating. Boat Works Today has a very good series of videos on fiberglass repairs, including gel coat: Here is the series.
 
I bought a gelcoat repair kit that comes with a very thin sheet of stiff plastic to lay over the wet gelcoat while it dries. It leaves a smooth glossy surface, looks almost like new when it's done.
 
mutski":2jjbhmb1 said:
I bought a gelcoat repair kit that comes with a very thin sheet of stiff plastic to lay over the wet gelcoat while it dries. It leaves a smooth glossy surface, looks almost like new when it's done.
Click to expand...

Could you please share which one you bought?
 
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